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| Tiger Wood |
Just do not tell that to the rest of the field.
“It’s more than Tiger just trying to win this tournament,” said Lee Westwood, the world’s second-ranked golfer who has worked his way to five-under par, five shots behind McIlroy and two behind Woods. “There are other guys on the leaderboard who can try and intimidate.”
Woods, however, did not get off to a flying start in the third round, with a bogey on the first hole to drop back to six under.
McIlroy, the 21-year-old from Northern Ireland who teed off last at 2:45 p.m., does not seem interested in intimidating the field and instead is just making easy work of the fabled Augusta National golf course. In his first two rounds, a seven-under 65 followed by Friday’s 69, he has only a single bogey. He has played with his usual abandon — and at his usual speed, which makes it appear as if he’s late for dinner — and nothing has rattled him. So far.
“It will be great for the tournament if he’s up there," McIlroy said of Woods. “But I’m two shots ahead and I’m in a better position.”
McIlroy’s confidence and style makes him compelling to watch and also a candidate to have a round go completely off kilter, as it has in past majors like last year’s second-round 80 at the British Open.
He teed off with 23-year-old Australian Jason Day and both scored a par on the first hole. McIlroy and Day were also in the same playing group the first two days and Day charged to eight under in his first Masters. Both talked about how much fun they had playing together the first two rounds and hoped to extend that into the weekend.
Another Australian, the veteran Geoff Ogilvy, who won the 2006 United States Open over Phil Mickelson, is also in contention, using his short-game prowess and ability to putt the superfast surfaces at Augusta. He started the day tied with Alvaro Quiros, the long-driving Spaniard from La Linea, who battled back from a shaky start to stay within reach at six under. But Ogilvy had an early bogey to drop to five under, as did Quiros.
Mickelson spent the early part of Saturday’s round trying to hoist himself into the conversation with those players, but his play has been a roller-coaster ride from the first round. Every surge has been followed by wayward shots and scrambles to save par and the third round started no differently. He had birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to briefly sit at four under, but a bogey on No. 4 set him back again and he was three under through seven holes.
Of the others teeing off in the early afternoon, Sergio García jumped to seven under with a hot start, with birdies on Nos. 2, 3 and 5.
Sources: http://www.nytimes.com
